


Watered Down Dreams

by reyzul (MaK)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Unfinished, won't be finished
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-12
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-26 06:11:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6226975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaK/pseuds/reyzul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Is Pearl okay?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Watered Down Dreams

Amethyst had last checked the clock a while ago - it feels like an hour or more, but she can't be sure - and it was nearing three in the morning when she had, so it was bound to be dead silent at the temple. She needed to keep it that way, too; unless she wanted either an upset and anxious Steven worrying at her feet as to where she had been all night or, the worst of the two, an upset and anxious Pearl grumbling about staying out late and coming home ten minutes before the sun starts to rise... There was also the possibility of Garnet being up and catching her, but the likelihood of her really saying anything was low. But, honestly, she had no want to deal with any of the other Crystal Gems so early in the day. At this point in time, her mission was simple: stay quiet. 

Wrestling, as always, had left her a bit fatigued, but she still felt a bit rowdy. Normally, had she not been as tired as she was, she would stop by the fridge or dig through the cabinets to find a snack to tide her over for a couple of hours until someone else got up to prepare breakfast. However, even the idea of stopping to prepare the most simplistic versions of a sandwich or find the time to microwave a bag of popcorn seemed just too much for her at the moment. Right now, though food was certainly on her mind, she could wait until she had taken a nice, long nap before attempting to find anything worthwhile to eat. Plus, she was bound to make some noise - even if she were to be as quiet as possible - while going through the kitchen. If Pearl came out of her room for _that_ sort of racket, there would be no sort of worrying or questioning about where she had been, only a bit of jabbing comments about being noisy and probably a few insults thrown in regarding her nightly habits - nothing Amethyst couldn't handle, but nothing she really wanted to have to confront right now.

Creaking the door open just a bit, Amethyst tiptoed her way into the house and made sure to shut the door with as little noise as possible, though she made herself jump as soon as the hinges of the door finally closed and let out a soft squeak. Steven, just up the stairs, was snoring - not loudly, but enough for Amethyst to hear - and, as far as she could tell without really checking, was really fast asleep and likely not to catch her walking into the temple. _Good_. 

Continuing to tiptoe, she made a quick escape from the living room and the kitchen and was on safe ground, the smooth stone that lined the warp pad and lead to the temple's door. Before going in, Amethyst took a quick glance at the clock just below Steven's loft; it was half past four in the morning. Pearl could easily still be up and about in her room - not that she ever slept, but she had times where she would simply relax for a bit - and Amethyst breathed in deep, hushing herself while summoning for the door to open. The sound it made was inevitable and the light that poured out just the same, but she didn't hear Steven stir or even a break in his continuous snoring, so she assumed she had to be safe at this point. Crawling in, with the door shutting automatically behind her, Amethyst let out a sigh and smiled. 

For such a small adventure, it was nerve-wrecking. Of course, no one would be out and about at this time, but there was still always the off chance someone was just tidying things up (that is, Pearl) or just taking an anxious sort of stroll (again, Pearl) or simply just waiting for her to return home after going out so late (believe it or not, also Pearl). In fact, given that it was nearing so early in the morning and she knew Pearl was the type of gem to start moving about as soon as the sun started to peak out, Amethyst was actually surprised to find no one was waiting for her. Or, even if Pearl wasn't necessarily waiting for her, at least just going about business as usual around the house. It was about that time, wasn't it? Half past four in the morning? Yes, that was definitely about the time for Pearl to be moving around.

Well, that was _sort of_ worrisome. But, it was probably nothing. Pearl was probably busy with something else in her room and Amethyst was overthinking it a bit.

... _Or_ , Pearl could have gotten into some weird trouble in her room. Or _or_ , she was playing with her dainty swords or whatever and tripped and it landed just right on her gem. Or or _or_ , some other terrible thing that could lead to Pearl somehow cracking her gem had occurred.

That was stupid, of course.

Really stupid.

Amethyst knew it, too. There was no way something that ridiculous could happen, especially with Pearl.

There was no way.

Absolutely impossible.

Ridiculous! A dumb train of thought. Pearl was fine and so was everyone else and it was about time Amethyst hit the hay and slept for a few hours before someone came barging into her room to wake her up. 

Yes, it was definitely about that time... to hit the hay... and sleep for awhile...

She worried, though. 

Of course, she did. 

What if, on the off chance, one of those scenarios _did_ happen? 

It wouldn't hurt to check, at least. To make sure Pearl was, in fact, alright and nothing was terribly wrong. It'd be a quick check, too - just in and out of Pearl's room, listening to her dance on the waterfalls before Amethyst would make her way back to her own room and finally get some sleep.

The fastest (and easiest) way to Pearl's room was to go through Garnet's and then into Pearl's, but she didn't want to risk actually running into Garnet. So, though it would be a bit more tedious, Amethyst walked through the several piles of garbage and through a few tunnels that went all about her room and sometimes through the temple. After a couple of minutes and with only a slight bit of maneuvering garbage around, she found the small puddle that joined their two rooms. Sticking her head in and emerging on the other side with just a bit of her rising above the water, Amethyst looked around and listened closely.

She listened and listened, listened and listened, and... 

There was certainly the sound of water. But, that was certainly a given with the rushing pools surrounding her. However, there was no small splashing noises that would indicate Pearl actually moving around. 

_Shit_. What if Amethyst had jinxed it and some bad luck had lead to one of her previous terrors to come true? Not that she really believed in superstitions or, well, anything at all like that, but - but, but, but - she was worried! It was a huge _'what if'_ , but _what if_ something bad actually happened!

Amethyst jumped the rest of the way out of the puddle, swimming a little bit until she could stand firmly on one of the pillars of water. There was still no sign of Pearl - and Amethyst tried to make reason of this, as it was possible that the gem was simply tinkering with things at the barn or maybe even just outside the temple and Amethyst had missed her - and, without lack of any conformation that Pearl was nearby, it was only logical to continue on upwards to find out if she really was up there. Or, at least, if her imagination of Pearl somehow cracking herself, that her gem was still sitting above one of the waterfalls. If it was cracked, well... they had Steven, of course. But, even with that sort of backup plan in mind, Amethyst was still beyond just a tad bit anxious.

Given all the water and bright lights, Pearl's room was significantly harder to navigate through compared to Amethyst's - at least, in her opinion, that is. Leaping around easily got boring and nothing short of consistently consecutive in motion, but she supposed that such actions were the kind of things Pearl enjoyed. As much as she complained though, she had to admit the room itself was actually quite cool (not as cool as her's, though, obviously; her room was far superior), but the room was also a bit to vast for her liking, as it made it just that much harder to actually locate Pearl.

She assumed that she would find Pearl on one of the highest pillars, either as a cracked gem or just as normal Pearl with her nerdy swords and graceful - but, still lame - dance moves. 

For once, Amethyst was right! Sure enough, there Pearl was... except, unexpectedly, she was almost as fast asleep as Steven was outside the temple's door. 

It was a surprise, to say the least, as Pearl hardly ever slept at all and rarely did she stay asleep for any extended period of time. But, here she was, as asleep as... some sort of Earth creature associated with tiredness - Amethyst couldn't really think of anything specific at the moment. 

To double check, though, Amethyst made her way on the final pillar and stood a ways away from Pearl, just close enough to make sure the gem on her forehead was fine and Pearl was simply asleep and there was no odd circumstance coming about. 

Relieved, Amethyst let out a small sigh. She was so silly to believe anything wrong could have actually happened - especially if the 'wrong' was anything like an accident, as Pearl was quite impartial to accidents and everything she did had some sort of purpose and adequate victory tied to it. In all likelihood, given that Pearl really never slept or rested up that much, she was just a bit tuckered out and would rise in a bit. 

Woohoo! Everything was fine, good, hunky dory, and perfect. 

Amethyst began to make the turn to leave, but heard Pearl move a bit and then redirected her attention back at her. With a bit of fidgeting and the occasional story telling expressions passing over her face, Pearl's gem illuminated just a bit.

It went out fairly quickly, though. 

... and then it returned, this time staying bright for awhile longer.

If Amethyst were to count, it was probably only a few moments of odd silence and Pearl's brightening and darkening gem before anything actually happened. 

With her gem fully illuminated, Pearl projected her dreams onto the flowing water as she shifted her body to a more comfortable position. It was always amusing to see what was really going on in Pearl's subconscious or what just flat out weird and absurd dreams she had. The figures in the projection were a little blurry and quite twisted, as if Amethyst was at a fair with those groovy mirrors that alter an individual's height and weight and so forth. Sitting down on the water's edge and scooting in just a tad bit closer, Amethyst watched the figures in the water begin to take form and establish themselves clearly in Pearl's vision. 

Well, it was sort of obvious who those 'figures' were. Plump-ish and purple, Amethyst had a pretty easy time picking herself out. There was also a glob of orange and yellow and lime green blobs mixed in, but those background ones don't really matter. Pearl was the pale figure nearby, sitting atop one of the kitchen's counters - which made it more than obvious that this dream was really just that, a dream, as Pearl would never sit on something that wasn't actually dedicated for sitting. If Garnet or anyone else was there, Amethyst couldn't make them out whatsoever and simply just watched herself and Pearl. 

Interestingly, they weren't fighting. Which was weird, given hat the dream established that Amethyst was across the room from the kitchen and the two were carrying out a lovely conversation. There was so much _distance_ it was almost uncomfortable, as Amethyst had been so used to having someone bumping shoulders with her. Certainly, Amethyst in Pearl's dream had to be arguing about something, correct? At least, that's what Amethyst figured... she was used to having Pearl hang around her and being rather touchy (without realizing it, actually). The dream, though relatively normal, managed to make Amethyst just a little bit more anxious than she had began as - sure, she didn't believe in any sort of superstitions or hocus pocus, but she did suspect that dreams were more telling than they let on.

**Author's Note:**

> lol this was going to end w them kissing or smth all happily n gooey


End file.
